


Loaded guns and loaded statements

by TetrodotoxinB



Series: Whumptober 2020 [3]
Category: MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: Canon typical everything else, Day 3, Ear pulling, Hair Pulling, Manhandling, Whumptober 2020, references to what we can all assume was child abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:53:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26792443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TetrodotoxinB/pseuds/TetrodotoxinB
Summary: Jack manhandles Mac on a mission.
Series: Whumptober 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1947493
Comments: 20
Kudos: 54
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	Loaded guns and loaded statements

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CommanderBunnBunn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CommanderBunnBunn/gifts).



> Many thanks to [aravenwood](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aravenwood/pseuds/aravenwood) for her extreme kindness in being willing to beta all of these whumptober fills! Especially so since she's also writing her own (amazing!) fics too! Please go check her out and give her some love!

Despite this being a life or death situation, being caught and dragged by his ear feels like a lot like James catching Mac tending a nest of baby rats instead of reporting the rodents to his father. He’s prepared for a scolding, being called a “disappointment,” and probably another grounding. He reflects that the immediate threat of being shot twice in the back of the head not being his first concern is possibly telling of something. 

When they come to a stop in the large, KX-7 filled warehouse, Jack trips Mac as he pushes him forward, and Mac takes the hint, going with the fall and sprawling on the concrete floor. He turns his body at the last moment to take the impact on his shoulder which, while better than landing face first, still hurts quite a bit.

“Look what I found skulking around outside!” Jack shouts, his accent getting thicker the longer he yells. “What the hell kind of operation you boys running here anyway? I thought you hired guards. I coulda hired some girl scouts and they’d have done a better job!”

The man Jack has been working with for weeks looks both chastened and distressed. “What did he see?”

“Well he’s seen our faces now, dummy,” Jack drawls. “You think there’s something here more important than that?”

“Yeah, I would like to know what the transmitter that he wired into the building’s phone lines is sending to,” growls Peter, the lead chemist.

 _Shit._ Mac was hoping that they would notice the dummy panel he’d fooled with first, not the main relay. Jack must sense how close to fucked they are because he grabs Mac by the hair, hauling him up to his knees, and gets right in his face.

“You thought you were gonna come in here, slick as owl shit, and what? Steal our chemical formulas? Rat on our shipment info? You think we’re that stupid? Huh?” Jack shouts.

He’s close enough that Mac can feel the warmth of Jack’s breath on his face and smell the Rueben that Jack had for lunch. Jack tugs roughly at Mac’s hair, jerking his head back, but not so far back to injure him. It’s careful but still painful. Mac’s always been tender headed and his scalp burns, his eyes pricking with tears.

Mac shakes his head despite the pain. “No, I swear. I don’t know anything about what’s going on. I was just hired to install some hardware. Cash money. I don’t know anything about who they are or what they want. It was a dead drop.”

Jack sneers and tosses Mac’s head aside using his grip on Mac’s hair. “The sheer amount of stupidity here is overwhelming. We don’t just have some stupid nerd kid digging into our shit, we have his anonymous bosses too.” 

This is rapidly going downhill. The options for Mac’s survival are minimal. Either Jack has to break character instead of ordering Mac’s immediate execution, or Mac has to break cover and somehow they'll have to fight their way out. Mac is partial to not being shot in the back of the head, but he also doesn’t see how they’re going to salvage the op.

“Want me to take care of him?” a guard asks.

Jack rounds on the guard. “Oh, like you took care of security? Like you kept this doofus from tapping into our grid? Yeah, thanks but no thanks.”

Fingers thread through Mac’s hair, tightening, but not as tight as it would be if Jack actually meant it. Mac grimaces anyway.

“What’s your name, doofus?” Jack asks, carefully jerking Mac’s head side to side.

Mac gapes like a landed fish and stammers out, “Uh- J-James.”

A fleeting look that asks, _really?,_ crosses Jack’s face before their little charade continues. “Well, ‘uh -J-James,’ I think you know more than you’re telling us. Or maybe you just know more than you realize. Either way, we’re gonna find out. Lock him up somewhere, and for god’s sake, don’t forget to actually lock the door.”

Jack tugs roughly on Mac’s hair to force him to stand, and he gasps at the sensation. Feigning fear and resistance, Mac rises unwillingly and staggers away from Jack’s hold, only to be roughly reeled back in. It stings like being punched in the nose, and Mac tries to focus on something else to avoid the tears that well up in his eyes.

With a rough shove towards one of the more competent guards, Jack slips Mac’s knife back into his pocket. Having been searched once, Mac, and clearly Jack as well, know that the chances of being searched again are minimal. It’s a calculated risk but one they both have to take.

*****

It’s not until they’re back at Mac’s, drinking beer on the deck, that Jack brings up the hair pulling. “You alright kid? I tried not to rough you up too hard back there, but I had to sell it, you know?”

Mac smiles and shakes his head. “No, you weren’t very rough at all. Remember that time in Bangkok? You hit me in the stomach so hard that I puked.”

Jack nods. “Yeah, yeah, I remember. You just looked like it really hurt when I was pulling your hair. I wanted to make sure you were alright, you know?”

Mac takes another drink. “I mean it stung. A lot. And my neck is kinda sore. But it only made my eyes water the same way that getting punched in the nose makes your eyes water. Just a reflex.”

Jack nods, relieved that he hasn’t traumatized Mac in some unexpected way, until something else crosses his mind. “Hey, what was with saying your name was ‘James?’”

Mac shrugs. “The ear pulling thing reminded me of Dad getting on to me as a kid. It’s just where my mind went.”

If that isn’t one helluva loaded statement, Jack doesn’t know what is. But it’s late and they’re both tired from their extended run to exfil. Jack can pry the details out of Mac in the morning.


End file.
